Author: Rachel Fetherston (Rachel Fetherston)

Rachel Fetherston (Rachel Fetherston)

Rachel Fetherston is currently a PhD candidate at Deakin University investigating the impact of Australian ecofiction on readers' environmental attitudes and behaviours. She is also a freelance writer and the publications manager at Remember The Wild.

Located along the well-trodden track that leads to where surfers regularly head down to the waves below, Point Leo’s ecopoetry trail encourages walkers to catch a glimpse of Western Port Bay’s shimmering blue waters behind each verse of the poem, seamlessly blending the artistic with the marine. Written by Michelle Leber, ‘Talking to the Shoreline’...

It’s common for unexperienced gardeners to bemoan the fact that Australia doesn’t offer the most ideal climate for sustaining heavily water-dependent gardens. Often, though, this is because some Australian garden enthusiasts still find themselves deeply entrenched in European gardening traditions. It might be how their parents gardened, or it might just be the kind of...

Migratory shorebirds are considered our most endangered group of birds. Described as ‘brown birds in a brown landscape’, they are notoriously difficult to identify and are adept at remaining hidden in their threatened habitats; those mud flats and in-between tidal zones that are often not seen as distinct environments. It is this invisibility that has...

Children’s books have a long history of portraying hopeful tales of adventure and survival through fictional characters and fantastical worlds. Phasmid, however, is of a different nature. A true story told through lyrical words and unique illustrations, this picture book is as informative and fascinating as it is beautiful. Written by Rohan Cleave, invertebrate zookeeper...

I won’t be the last to say it, but it can be easy to forget our eucalypts. Growing up, I took the immense trees that my family were lucky enough to have in our garden and on our nature strip for granted. Some visitors still remark on these overpowering trees, but I never really stopped...

Perhaps the only thing more interesting than the incredibly diverse, intensely beautiful, and often amazingly intelligent birds that grace our planet are the stories of the bird lovers themselves. Those who traverse the Earth, searching for new species, obtaining new knowledge on the species we already know, or simply chasing the birds that haunt their...

Often referred to as one of the most pristine and ecologically diverse areas of the world, the Kimberley region of Western Australia has a fantastical allure about it. It’s one of those places many of us dream of visiting, but is often sacrificed for other, more accessible locations when we’re planning our holidays. For me,...

Our psyche, our health, our evolution is informed by the state of the natural realm. Philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty believed that it is through nature that human beings can tap into the ‘deep world of untamed perception’ that exists on the periphery of our existence; through the chaotic, omnipresent, and often uncontrollable natural world can we...

Children’s books have always been a big part of my life – as a child (unsurprisingly) and as an adult. Literary studies at university enhanced my love for new and wonderful stories, whilst my appreciation for some of the classics was reignited. Australian children’s literature is a unique genre. With a wide range of illustrators...